Jochen Sauer: Mia san Mia does not exist in a vacuum

The monitors in the *1900 clubhouse showed a large graphic embedded in the diamonds of the FC Bayern badge: an aerial view of the FC Bayern Campus. A harmonious picture, because at the seventh Stammtisch for members of the German record champions, everything revolved around the area where the club’s youth teams are trained. And the long shot was also fitting because Jochen Sauer, head of youth development, ensured that the 50 members not only got good insights behind the scenes, but above all an exciting overview.

After a tour of the Campus by Sebastian Dremmler, FC Bayern's organisational director of youth football, and a welcome by Benny Folkmann, managing director of FC Bayern eV, Sauer began by explaining that he was delighted that the members had been drawn from over 600 registrations (the highest number to date for a members meet-up). "We're a bit out of the way here at the Campus, so we're delighted about the great interest and the large number of visitors," he joked at the opening. He’s been able to experience everything here from the move from Säbener Straße seven years ago to today, as former youth players such as Jamal Musiala and Aleks Pavlović are now establishing themselves with the first team. Over a Bavarian snack, there was an informative exchange with the guests - 90 minutes plus injury time.

Dremmler explained the key data of the FC Bayern Campus, which opened on 1 August 2017, to those present. At over 30 hectares, it is four times the size of the Säbener Straße site, with up to 16 teams including FC Bayern Women and the FC Bayern World Squad playing on eight pitches and a venue for 2,500 fans. Some 120 employees look after over 200 young players, and there are 40 apartments available in which two basketball players also live alongside youth footballers. There are over 1,000 tournament requests for the FCB youth teams every year. “Among other things, we can offer matches against Barcelona or Manchester United for the U14s,” explained Dremmler.

Sauer: “If you succeed here, the doors are open to you in the professional world”

Sauer described the three elementary building blocks of FC Bayern's training philosophy as follows: "Personality development, school education and sporting development - the aim is to train players for the professional game, ideally for FC Bayern. Standings in tables are therefore not a priority." Sauer vividly outlined the everyday life of an FCB youth player to those present: "You need a lot of discipline to manage the workload, but we give the boys all the help they need. One thing is clear: 'Mia san Mia' is not something you take on in a vacuum. If you succeed here, the doors are open to you in the professional world."

Sauer presented some interesting slides on the subject of progression. If you look at the years 1999 to 2005 (the players born in 1999 were the first to be trained at the Campus, the 2005 generation represents the current U19s crop), there have been 27 players who have featured in a competitive fixture for the Bayern senior team, for example Joshua Zirkzee, Paul Wanner or Frans Krätzig. And like David Alaba many years ago, Musiala also moved to the club at 16 before he made his breakthrough. In the 1999 to 2003 age group, FC Bayern has a rate of 36 percent in terms of training for the professional game in general, from Christian Früchtl to Woo-yeong Yeong and Angelo Stiller.

"More than a third of the youth players we train make it into the professional ranks," said Sauer. "At FC Bayern we guarantee a high chance of realising your dream of becoming a professional." He was asked what the difference was to other clubs. "Our aim here," said Sauer, "must be for every youth player to one day play in the Champions League." A prime example is Pavlović: "A native of Munich who came to us at U9 level, took on that 'Mia san Mia', and only ever had one goal to make it here at FC Bayern. That's exactly the kind of player we want."

Folkmann drew a satisfied conclusion: "So far, we have organised three members meet-ups in our clubhouse on the topics of merchandising, basketball and women's football, as well as three away from home in Cologne, Leipzig and Salzburg. The feedback from members is always extremely positive. FC Bayern is close to its members and fans, people have the opportunity to ask questions and express their opinions - that goes down well with people, and the exchange is also incredibly beneficial for our work at the club." For this meet-up at the Campus, members travelled from Kassel and Konz near Trier, around 500 kilometres away, to get a first-hand overview of the youth work. 

FC Bayern organised a members Stammtisch in Salzburg in October: